Australian hurt in grenade attack

Image: SKY NEWSNBC cameraman Jeremy Little, from Sydney, has been wounded during a grenade attack in Iraq.

An Australian sound recordist suffered serious internal injuries when his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq, his father said today.

Jeremy Little, from Sydney's northern beaches, was working for the American television network NBC when insurgents fired the grenade at a United States military vehicle in the town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

NBC said his injuries were not life threatening.

Mr Little's father John said he had been unable to speak with Jeremy but another Australian, cameraman Marcus O'Brien, had been in regular contact since the attack.

John Little said his son, aged in his late 20s, was embedded with US troops and was now in a US field hospital south of Baghdad.
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"There were three vehicles in convoy, he was in the middle one," Mr Little told the Nine Network.

"They'd been out on a patrol as part of this operation to clean up the Ba'ath party elements.

"They were returning when this single rocket-propelled grenade hit Jeremy's vehicle ... he was the only one injured.

"All I can think is that it may not have been a direct hit, it may have been just underneath the vehicle or beside it, otherwise I'm sure we'd be telling a different story."

He said Jeremy had been wearing a flak jacket which protected most of his upper body.

"Most of of the injuries are confined to the lower part of his body and he hasn't lost any limbs or anything but he lost a terrific amount of blood at first," Mr Little said.

"There was a medic with them who was able to stabilise him and he's since discovered the main problems are internal injuries.

"He's had one operation and he's having another one later today.

"That operation will tell us more about just how extensive those internal injuries are."

Mr Little said medics expected to move his son to a military hospital near Frankfurt in Germany within 24 to 72 hours.

"He was embedded with the American forces and the American forces are treating him as one of their own," he said.

"They have been absolutely wonderful."

Mr Little said the area near where the attack occurred had previously been quiet.

"The whole situation has been escalating rapidly in the last couple of weeks, ever since Jeremy arrived," he said.

"This was the first attack in that area and he just happened to be the one that was sitting in the car that had been hit."

Three Iraqis were also apparently killed when their truck slammed into the vehicle evacuating the Australian.

Mr Little revealed his son had been concerned about the violence in Iraq but as a news man he was willing to take the risk.

"He was worried about it and they discussed the dangers with the American military before they went out," he said.

"But he was there to do that job and if you're in a place like Iraq and you're there as a news man, well, you take the risk."

Jeremy Little was also almost caught up in last October's Bali bombings, said the Nine Network in Sydney, where he worked for about 10 years before leaving to work freelance overseas in March.

He had been holidaying in Bali when the bombings occurred on October 12 last year, a spokeswoman said.

At the time the bombs went off, he had been due to meet someone in the Sari Club, but had a last-minute change of plans.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Mr Little was in a stable condition and Australian diplomats in Baghdad were monitoring his condition.

"The Australian Representative Office in Baghdad is liaising with the US military and monitoring his condition," she said.

The spokeswoman confirmed Mr Little would be transferred to Germany after initial treatment in Iraq.

Mr Little's father told Sky News he and his wife would fly out today to be reunited with their son as soon as possible.

"We've got the bags packed, we're just about on the way to the airport," he said.

"He'll be shipped to a big military hospital in Germany, so that's where we're headed.

"We want to be there when he gets there."

Before the attack, he said, he had been in phone contact with his son Jeremy who had spoken about what it was like to be in a war zone.

"We've been becoming increasingly concerned and he's been very much aware of the dangers he would have to face," John Little said.

"It was not possible to move around Baghdad without an armed escort ... it was a pretty tense kind of a place, he told us."